Builder got threat calls minutes after attack

A day after 62-year-old developer Rajaram Manjawkar was shot at by two unidentified assailants in Borivali on Tuesday, it has emerged that he received three telephone calls seven minutes after the attack.

Police released sketches of the two shooters based on the description provided by eyewitnesses

Police said that the unknown caller told Manjawkar, “if we can fire at the car, then we can fire at you too, and this is just a trailer.” Manjawkar, who is involved in slum rehabilitation authority (SRA) projects, had left home for office at 11 am on Tuesday when two men approached his black Skoda car near Suvidya School in Borivli (E) and fired three rounds. Manjawkar and his driver had escaped unhurt in the incident.

Following the attack, police released sketches of the accused based on the description provided by eyewitnesses. Police have also formed three police teams to investigate the matter, and have been dispatched to different locations, including Karnataka.

“The police team sent to Karnataka will question Yusuf Bachkana, who is serving a sentence there, as his name has cropped up during investigations,” said Sunil Deshmukh, assistant commissioner (Dahisar division). Police said that Manjawkar first received an extortion call demanding money on May 13, which he did not answer. He later received a text message in Hindi from the same number stating, ‘Why aren’t you answering the phone from Yusuf Bachkana.’

Cops also arrested local goon Parshuram Nalawade, a murder accused out on parole for 90 days, hours after the attack. “Nalawade was not involved in the firing, but had provided the assailants Manjawkar’s licence plate number, mobile number, and residential address,” Deshmukh said. “The intention was to threaten Manjawkar, rather than kill him. If they wanted, they could have shot him outside his building gate,” added Deshmukh.